Best Mattresses of 2024: Tested for Every Sleep Style | WIRED

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Buying a mattress online can be a waking nightmare, and picking the wrong one can literally cause bad dreams or kill your back. It doesn't help that the online market is flooded with options and that there are more dedicated mattress review sites than stars in the sky.

Years ago, we started this guide by filling a room with dozens of mattresses from top bed-in-a-box companies and spending several days examining, reclining, and even jumping on each of them. We've since upgraded our protocol to ensure we're conducting the most thorough real-life testing you'll find anywhere. Our testers now spend weeks or months sleeping on each mattress; we recommend only mattresses that WIRED reviewers have spent at least seven nights sleeping on in their homes. These are our favorites. All of the prices shown are for queen-size models.

Be sure to read our other sleep guides, including the Best Mattresses for Side Sleepers, Best Organic Mattresses, Best Bed Sheets, and Best Sleep Trackers.

Updated November 2024: After several rounds of new testing we've updated our picks for the best organic mattress, the best cheap mattresses, and the best mattress for pressure relief. We've also added fresh testing notes on a variant of our top pick, the Helix Midnight Luixe, which uses a dense layer of top foam that helps alleviate lower back pain.

Former WIRED editor Jeffrey Van Camp tested several mattresses over the years, but this is the only one that put him to sleep immediately after just a few minutes of lying on it. Helix's Midnight Luxe has a plush cushion top and a medium-firm feel that's relaxing whether you're a side, back, or stomach sleeper. (He's most definitely a stomach sleeper.)

Helix mattresses are hybrids with a base of individually wrapped inner springs that are firmer in areas that need more support to prevent back pain, like your lower spine. On top is a stratum of cooling gel foam and denser foams. There are six layers in all and the mattress is more than 13 inches high. It's cozy, and Helix has a variety of other mattresses that cater to different sleeping positions and firmness preferences. Helix is almost vertically integrated—the springs are made from bales of wire cut in the company's Arizona factory, where it has recently started pouring its own foam.

For the past month, I've been testing a version of the Helix Midnight Luxe with two added features: a super dense layer of contouring foam called ErgoAlign which targets lower back pain, and a proprietary cooling cover called GlacioTex. The cooling layer has been only moderately effective, but the contouring foam makes a big difference. The denser foam runs along your torso and offers side sleepers lots of support while also leaving plenty of give for your hips and shoulders. I would avoid it if you toss and turn a lot, though, as the shaping effect could pull you out of alignment if you end up in an unexpected position. Each feature adds $200 to the final cost.

Let’s face it: No one goes looking to buy a new mattress because they’re sleeping too well on their old one. Depending on what issues are disturbing your rest, the Leesa Sapira Chill may be the tonic for what ails you. That’s especially true if you struggle with a few interrelated problems—like getting too hot so you kick your covers off and roll over in the process, twisting your spine.

The Leesa Sapira hybrid was our longtime runner-up to the Helix and it’s still a mattress we endorse. But after two weeks of testing, the Sapira Chill won me over. Not only does it provide a nice dose of cooling thanks to a fabric cover that pulls heat away from the body, but it also delivers deep comfort via four foam layers and three different types of coil, which are artfully arranged in zones that gracefully align your hips. The Sapira's structure eliminated my periodic lower back pain in testing. (The next mattress I tested, the Magnistretch in the avoid section below, brought that pain back with a vengeance!)

The Leesa Sapira Chill is an affordable luxury mattress, with a plush quilted pillowtop and three available firmness levels. It has a little more springiness than other hybrids thanks to a bouncy responsive foam layer that takes the place of memory foam in many other hybrid mattresses. You also get premium touches like an outer ring of extra-firm springs for excellent edge support and a chemical-free and fiberglass-free barrier against fires. There’s a 100-night at-home trial with free shipping and free returns.

Most people are side sleepers. The stats vary by study and how you define side sleeping, but between half and three-quarters of people sleep mostly on their side. It's important to find a mattress that strikes a perfect balance between cushion and support. The Bear Elite is a five-layer hybrid mattress that's 14 inches thick and firmer than most other side sleeper mattresses. Your initial impression might be that a squishy memory foam mattress is better—my experience is that sinking too much gets old after a while.

The Bear's top layer is a quilted pillowtop made from a cooling fabric that sits above a layer of cooling copper-infused foam. There's a single layer of springs of varied rigidity so your hips can sink a bit without your back coming out of alignment. It's a sturdy mattress and comes with a 120-night trial period (plus a lifetime warranty).

The Bear Elite was my daily driver for nearly a year—I slept on this mattress any time I was not testing another mattress or traveling—and it's the pick I suggest to anyone who tells me they're a side sleeper unless they have other sleeping problems they're looking to address. Read our Best Mattresses for Side Sleepers guide for other picks.

After a new round of testing, Birch's Luxe organic mattress is Scott Gilbertson's new favorite organic model. The Birch Luxe is an all-around comfortable mattress that can help just about anyone get a good night's sleep since it strikes the best balance between firm and soft. (Birch calls it medium-firm.) It's a great choice for side sleepers while also working for people who sleep on their stomach or back. It's also great for people like Scott who sleep every which way.

The medium-firm feel comes from individually wrapped steel coils, which are topped with layers of natural latex, wool, and a Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)-certified organic cotton cover. The coils offer full lumbar support and are arranged to cradle your spine but are also stiff around the perimeter to offer solid edge support. There's no sag in the Birch Luxe, and Scott had none of the lower-back pain he associates with softer mattresses. The wool and latex top layers provide truly exceptional temperature regulation, and the pillowy top provides a nice bit of softness on the top. (The pillow top is the main thing that separates this from the cheaper, not-Luxe model).

Birch offers free shipping and a 100-night trial period, and all its mattress have a 25-year warranty. Birch also offers in-home setup and removal of your old mattress through LoadUp—details can be found on Birch's website. The Luxe arrived completely compressed, and while it was small, it was definitely heavy. If your mattress is headed up stairs, or your not comfortable lifting bulky, heavy objects, we recommend the in-home setup option.

The Avocado Green hybrid mattress is the only mattress WIRED reviewer Scott Gilbertson and his wife agree on. She likes a soft mattress, and he prefers a firm one. During Scott's two years of use when not testing another model, there was zero sagging or other issues.

The Avocado's best trick is that it's incredibly comfortable and environmentally friendly. It's 11 inches thick and is constructed in California from organic latex, organic wool, and organic cotton. It contains no polyurethane, fire retardants, memory foam, or chemical adhesives, according to the company. It offers a one-year trial, a 25-year warranty, and free shipping. Better yet, the company is also a certified B Corporation that's purchasing enough offsets to say it operates as a carbon-negative business. Read our Best Organic Mattresses guide for more sustainable options.

For years, Nectar mattresses have been our go-to picks for people who want a softer sleep surface. The company was sold earlier this year, and its line has been refreshed. The new Nectar Premier is even more Nectar-y than the other two Nectars I've tested. For anyone dealing with joint pain or hip pain caused by pressure points, this is a plush bed you slowly sink into—it feels like you're drifting in a cloud. This mattress is 13 inches thick with a satisfying squishiness and a cooling layer that’s a must for anyone who sleeps hot. All this foam also gives the Nectar Premier unmatched motion isolation—your partner could tap dance next to you and you're unlikely to notice.

I would not recommend the Nectar Premier to a combo sleeper who rolls over to their stomach or back, as it may be too soft for comfort. The company offers a full year of trial and a forever warranty, so if you feel like you made the wrong choice, you can ask for a do-over.

Casper put the American bed-in-a-box market on the map when it debuted in 2014. Its innovative marketing led to the complete corporate ride: multiple rounds of venture capital funding, an eventual IPO, then a private equity acquisition, and subsequent de-listing. If all this finance talk didn’t cause you to drift off to sleep, the newly launched The One probably will.

A decade later, Casper retired its core products and relaunched with The One as its base model in its five-deep lineup. I was a little skeptical, but The One impressed me after a week of sleep testing. This is an all-foam mattress that stands 11 inches tall. Because it's all foam, it’s on the light side, with a queen weighing an easily movable 66 pounds. One of the main issues with all-foam mattresses is that they get too hot, but Casper’s The One uses an open-cell foam layer called Breathe Flex Foam on the top, which makes it both pleasantly squishy and breathable. Two more layers of foam add up to a medium-firm feel, with the middle layer designed to cradle your hips, and the base layer designed to provide support. It's all wrapped in a knit cover so soft it’s a shame to cover it in sheets. As with any all-foam mattress, you sacrifice edge support, though these are decently stiff. The One feels like a classic Casper, but upgraded in ways that help it keep pace with the increasingly competitive mattress market. It's our favorite all-foam mattress at the moment.

There’s a lot to look for when you’re battling back pain. If the source is a chronic injury or damage in your back, you’ll want plenty of firm support to help keep your back and spine supported and aligned. But if you’re also a side sleeper or have pain from pressure points in your back and side, you’ll also want something soft enough that you can sleep comfortably.

WIRED reviewer Nena Farrell suffers from near-constant back pain due to a combination of scoliosis and spondylosis (degradation of cartilage in the spine) and her favorite mattress to sleep on to keep back pain away is the Charles P. Rogers Tradition Estate Mattress. This Florida-made mattress is gently firm, with seven layers of gel, foam, and springs. The quilted top was soft enough that she could comfortably sleep on her side and wake up from zero pressure point pain. It’s also got a nice spring to it, making it easy for her to hop out of bed—and keeping her from hurting herself before the day even begins. Charles P. Rogers allows returns and exchanges within 100 days of delivery, and the mattress also has five years of complete coverage against manufacturing issues plus 10 more years of prorated coverage.

★ A softer option: If you’re looking for more pressure relief and something a little softer, the seven-layer Saatva Rx ($2,945) erases muscle aches and pressure pains with ease overnight. It’s a little too soft if you have a chronic injury like spondylosis, but still has a nice spring to it to make it easy to rise in the morning.

Our top pick, Helix, has an Elite collection that consists of six new mattresses along a spectrum of softness. Those hybrid mattresses come in two separate boxes, each heavy enough to require help lifting. The firmness is dictated by the foam density of the upper layer, which zips into a larger support system. In theory, this makes the mattress adjustable if you end up regretting your order. The bottom section has two separate layers of tiny springs called microcoils. Helix says you need to pair this with a bed frame that has slats (not a traditional box-spring frame).

Helix advertises the Elite as "the tallest mattress on the internet," and at 16 inches, it is indeed the Shaq of boxed mattresses. I spent a month sleeping on the softest model from the Elite line, dubbed the Sunset, and appreciated the deep cradling effect. Most people prefer a mattress that cools them as they sleep—like many on this list, Helix claims to use a special fabric that dissipates body heat, and it indeed remains remarkably cool even when you're settled in. Helix offers a 100-day trial period on all of its mattresses.

Review and demonstration of the Helix Sleep Midnight Luxe mattress.

WIRED reviewer Adrienne So likes a firm mattress. And by “firm” she means “rock hard.” She finds sleeping on a quarter-inch of foam over dirt to be both relaxing and good for her back. The Plank's high-density support foam took a few hours to fully inflate, which left both So and her spouse with a misleading initial impression of too much softness. But after a few days, the mattress firmed up considerably. The 0.75-inch quilted top is barely perceptible. It's like sleeping on a clean wooden floor (this is a good thing for her).

If this is too much for you, you can flip it over to sleep on two inches of comfort foam on the underside. But let’s be honest, if you’re ordering a mattress called the Plank, you probably don’t want to do that. The foam also doesn’t move laterally, meaning kids can hop in and out of the parental bed with minimal shaking. Her one complaint is that the edges could use more support; she has slipped off the sides a few times while putting on her socks.

★ Not quite so firm: After two months of testing, WIRED reviewer Louryn Strampe was struck by the firmness of the Brooklyn Bedding Aurora Luxe Cooling Mattress ($1,586). It's not as firm as the Plank (which is also made by Brooklyn Bedding), but that could be a good thing depending on your sleeping preferences. As a side sleeper, she thinks a plush topper would be a fantastic addition to the mattress, but her back-sleeping partner (who often complains that the mattresses she reviews are too soft) is a big fan. The hybrid bed is available in three firmness levels and the cooling features of this mattress are also effective. The top layer feels cold to the touch, even through layers of sheets. Her only complaint is that those cooling fibers are so slippery that her fitted sheet kept slipping off.

The Contour5 is a new mattress from Saatva, replacing the popular Loom & Leaf in the company's lineup. As with other Saatva mattresses, it is not roll-packed and comes delivered on a moving truck.

The Contour5 has two firmness options and updated cooling tech that uses airflow channels in its gel foam layer which is thinner than its predecessor, meaning it retains less heat. In my two weeks of testing, I found the Countour 5 was very good at remaining cool through summer nights which is extra impressive given that it uses very dense 5-pound-weight memory foam.

The Contour5 is soft enough for side sleeping without feeling like a saggy hammock and has excellent build quality which is impressive for an all-foam mattress without springs. I prefer a hybrid with microcoils, but Saatva is popular for a reason, and as all-foam mattresses go it has a true luxury feel—which it should given it's triple the price of the all-foam Casper below.

WIRED reviewer Julian Chokkattu sleept on the WinkBed for almost two years and he was quite happy in that time. His favorite perk? The edge support is fantastic so his partner never wakes when he slips into bed late at night. The plush pillowtop also adds a luxe hotel-like feel to a relatively firm bed. (He tried the Luxury Firm, but there are three other choices.) He is a stomach and back sleeper; his partner, often a side sleeper, says it's a bit too firm.

The WinkBed is a US-made hybrid mattress with an eco-friendly Tencel cover that wicks moisture and has individually wrapped coils for excellent support. The company says it works well with most bed frames (as long as there's rigid center support). There's a 120-night trial and a full-replacement lifetime warranty.

Like the Saatva we recommend for beating back pain above, this is another mattress that doesn't come roll-packed in a box. Serta is one of the nation's largest mattress makers and has been around for nearly a century. Its Perfect Sleeper (in the Ultimate support firmness with a plush pillowtop) strikes an excellent balance between softness and support. You will need to schedule delivery by truck, but unlike old-school mattresses, it does not require a box spring.

Serta's sister brand, Simmons, invented the woven wire spring mattress, and the heart of the Perfect Sleeper is an assortment of coils, arranged in three zones of firmness that are well engineered for both side and back sleeping. The mattress sits 14 inches high, among the tallest on this list. Serta has updated materials around those springs, using antimicrobial layers to prevent the mattress from getting stinky and a foam to keep it cool. On my week of testing, it felt refreshingly sturdy, with nice edge support.

WIRED contributor Nicole Kinning has slept on a half-dozen cooling mattresses in the past few months and says the Purple Restore Cool Touch mattress is the best on the market right now, providing effective cooling while being extremely comfortable.

Derived from the flagship Purple Restore, this cool version features the company's distinctive GelFlex layer, a rubbery grid beneath the mattress surface that provides just the right amount of bounce. That layer is supportive and not so bouncy that it’ll wake a sleeping partner. We’d also assert that this springy gel layer enhances the overall coolness of the bed, offering a refreshing sleep environment, especially when compared to foam-top mattresses that are more likely to trap heat. Beneath the GelFlex grid lies a dense and supportive polyfoam and pocketed cooling coils. This structure is enclosed by the signature eggplant-colored fabric bottom. The true star of the show covers the mattress’s interior: a lightweight yarn-woven surface, which remains noticeably chilly to the touch.

The S Performance mattress from Bedgear is literally cool to the touch and WIRED reviewer Molly Higgins found it felt way more luxe than its price point suggests. At $800, this medium-firm cooling mattress far exceeded her expectations, with most “cooling” mattresses only claiming so because of the gel infusion. The mattress has a top layer called Ver-Tex that’s silky smooth and designed to reduce overheating. The second layer is an inch-and-a-half of ventilated foam with vertically drilled holes to increase airflow. This has a high-density, durable base for foundational support and it uses ventilated foam and Bedgear’s Air-X mesh with open ventilation design to promote airflow and help regulate body temperature. This 10-inch bed ships free to the lower 48, has a 10-year manufacturer's warranty, and can be returned if opened within 30 days, or if unopened returned within 100 days of purchase.

Molly generally likes a more plush bed, but was happy with the feel of the medium. This mattress popped up to size almost immediately and Molly loved this bed so much, she replaced her original mattress with this one based on the effectiveness of the cooling effect.

You're going to spend roughly a third of your life on a mattress unless you're plagued by bad habits and staying up late. In my opinion, that makes bedding a bad place to cheap out. But, if you're on a very tight budget you could do worse than the Linenspa hybrid mattress. This is one of those Amazon products with more than 100,000 reviews of questionable provenance. I was unable to make contact with the company directly, so I bought it. When I cracked the heavy (75-pound) box open to let the springs and foam breathe, my impressions didn’t improve. The Linenspa’s outer shell is baggy, with bunching in weird places. The memory foam layer is uneven and in one corner seems to disappear. The edge support is also uneven.

I was surprisingly comfortable from the first night and held up fairly well for several weeks. Side sleepers will surely notice the springs are a little creaky, with no motion isolation. Sometimes those springs make you feel like you’re floating on an uneven cloud—pricier mattresses avoid this by varying the size of springs in different zones—but the overall feel is supportive and comfortable. Having spent weeks testing mattresses priced between $300 and $4,000, I can say you get what you pay for. But this is a fine option if you can't spend more.

★ Another super cheap mattress we like: The Wayfair Sleep 8-inch Medium Cooling Gel Memory Foam Mattress ($254) is a medium mattress that has an impressive blend of softness and structure at this price point. WIRED reviewer Molly Higgins tends to go for more plush mattresses, but this medium wasn’t too firm for her taste. The top layer has a breathable, woven jacquard design that helps to keep the sleeper cool and has a tight enough foam top to help with reducing motion transfer. There's also cooling gel, charcoal, and green tea-infused memory foam to add freshness and odor absorption, plus a soft comfort foam mounted to a durable high-density foam base that combine to offer respectable pressure relief. The mattress ships right to your door, is compatible with an adjustable base, and has a 10-year manufacturer’s warranty.

There are a few mattresses we tested that don't stand out as much but are decent and worth mentioning, in case you're thinking about them.

Wayfair Sleep 14-Inch Plush Cooling Gel Hybrid Mattress for $445: This plush mattress has a top layer of cooling gel that conforms to your body for comfort and has classic pocket coils below for structure and support, with layers of memory foams with varying thickness surrounding the coils for extra support (the coils and memory foam mixture helps with low motion transfer, too). The top knit cover and sides help with breathability and the overall cooling effect. The mattress is also compatible with an adjustable bed base, has solid edge support, is CertiPUR-US and Oeko-Tex Certified (ensuring no harmful toxins are in your mattress), and has a 10-year warranty. This bed is super comfy if you like a more plush mattress.

Naturepedic EOS for $3,499: Think of this as an organic cousin to the Helix Elite above, as it's also a big and sturdy mattress that comes in three boxes to be assembled. If you're looking for an organic hybrid mattress that allows customization, Naturepedic's EOS is a solid (if expensive) choice. I ordered this in firm to see how I slept after months of medium mattresses and it was indeed firm, with springs that only started to soften after three weeks of on-and-off sleeping and a lot of jumping by my 9-year-old daughter. You can swap out layers for free for 100 nights, which means finding just the right firmness. Note that it's a heavy mattress thanks to the natural latex layer, but it's sturdy enough that the company offers a 25-year limited warranty.

There are some models you should avoid. Many of these beds are extremely affordable, and if you aren't picky, they may feel fine. In other cases, the mattress is decent but the price is not.

You'll spend a third of your life on a mattress, which means picking the right one is important. Start with your preferred sleeping position and how much support you need. Here are a few tips.

Should you buy a firm or soft mattress? Generally, heavier people and back or stomach sleepers will do better with firmer mattresses, while lighter people and side sleepers enjoy softer mattresses. Temperature is also an issue: Softer mattresses sleep warmer since your body is sinking into a layer of fabric and foam. Keep in mind that all mattresses have a break-in period, and the way the mattress feels on your first night won't be how it feels after a week or two.

Do you want a hybrid or foam mattress? The next big question is whether you want a foam mattress or a hybrid model that layers foam with built-in springs. We tend to recommend hybrids because they are more stable and supportive, and they usually stay cooler. Hybrids are often slightly pricier. Foam mattresses tend to be softer, lighter, and cheaper.

What size mattress do you need? The prices below are based on the queen size, but almost all mattresses come in the standard sizes of Twin, Twin XL, Full, Queen, King, and California King. You'll want to buy a mattress based on the size of your bed frame.

How easy is it to set up a bed-in-a-box? Most of these mattresses are delivered in a box, vacuum-sealed, and rolled up. Some are pretty heavy—up to 150 pounds—so be sure you have someone to help you. After you unroll your bed-in-a-box mattress and cut the vacuum bag open, it'll immediately begin to inflate, so unbox it on your bed frame or near it. We have a helpful guide on how to set up the mattress you bought online with more tips. The mattresses are usually ready to go in a few hours, but most manufacturers recommend giving them two days to reach their normal state.

Should you wait for a sale to buy a mattress? Mattresses go on sale often. If you see one at full price, there's a strong chance you can save hundreds of dollars by waiting for the next big sale event (every few months).

What if you don't like the mattress you bought online? Most of the mattresses we have tested and recommend have at least a 100-night testing period and a 10-year warranty. You may want to look at the company's policy as you may be on the hook for a nominal return fee.

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